8 ft vs 9 ft basement ceiling height

2 years ago

Anyone have 9 foot ceilings in their basement and is it worth the extra cost?

We plan to have a wet bar, living room, gym space, bedroom and bathroom in the basement. So we anticipate spending time down there especially during winters.

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Comments (6)

chispa
2 years ago
If you can afford it, you won't regret going with the 9 ft option.

In our previous house we did an addition with a basement and went with 10 ft ceilings. Never regretted spending that extra money. We had a large light well (required by CA code) and the basement got lots of natural light.

Is you basement a walk-out or regular? What are the plans for windows?
strategery
2 years ago
Agreed, go for 9ft in basement, especially for a new build. Nobody wants a troll cave.
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Our basement is walkout on the entire rear and right side. Every room other than storage you cna walk out to the yard. So there will be plenty of light. Not sure if it worth the extra expense to deepen it or not. It's about 6k to do it. While that is not alot of money by any means...it's still money. I am trying to reserve as much as possible for extras I may want as we build. Which I know I will want. But many of those things will be cosmetic...not structural. Moldings, light fixtures and such. I am also toying with making the house all brick again. That will cost about 20k. That is money that could be spent on that. What would give me higher resale? I guess it would be in the eye of the beholder.
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We've always had 8' ceilings in our kids rooms, but in our new build we are doing 9'. Mainly because large bunk beds are difficult to fit in small rooms with 8' ceilings. If you aren't doing bunk beds (or the larger lofty type of bunk beds) - you likely won't need the extra ceiling height. I am looking forward to it though and it allows for the window header to be slightly higher which lets more light in the rooms and I like hanging light fixtures that don't bump peoples heads. :) Just some ideas. Your rooms sizes are large enough it will feel great either way.
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Can't, sorry, I live on the other side of the country now. I did have 9' ceilings. If you are worried about how it will look IRL, do a mockup. Get a large roll of butcher paper (the brown stuff), and tape it to a wall. You can do it outside if you can't find a workshop or some other high space. Then draw the doors, a window, base, and crown. Better still is to have a carpenter do a mockup, with the real millwork, on a sample wall. The wall does not have to be more than a few feet wide. I would only do this in an expensive house, obviously. In fact, if you are getting this fancy, you probably should have a designer, and that person can supervise the mockup. IMO this is the only way for a layman to get a good idea of how the elements will relate in reality. My design was a "modernized" version of a colonial house, almost Shaker, with flat stock mouldings and a flat crown. That's probably not what you are thinking about, so it would not help you. Good luck.
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We paid $1500 extra to have 10’ poured walks in our basement and it was one of the best decisions we made during house building! We originally thought we’d have a drop ceiling which would bring down the effective height but now we are contemplating just painting it all like this:
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3onthetree
2 years ago
Absolutely 9'. If your budget and water table allows it, it's a no-brainer decision. You will pretty much have a minimum 8' ceiling everywhere, even under beams, ductwork, and pipes. For a gym definitely coordinate MEP to allow a 9' ceiling.

The generation that only had and used basements as "cellars" is dwindling. The modern house is defined by basements being utilized for living space.
rrah
2 years ago
9 foot is best. Consider when you finish it that the ceilings will be lower because of duct work, beams, etc.
David Cary
2 years ago
Why does 9 foot ceiling necessarily mean that it gets reduced by beams and ducts. That certainly could vary by convention.
User
2 years ago
100% agree if you plan to use it as living space, go with 9'. It's surprising how much that extra foot adds to the overall feeling of a space.

I deliberately chose 8 for my cellar, but that's because I never plan to use it as living space. I love having the laundry room and all mechanicals/HVAC so easily accessible in a cellar - and cellars are expected in a home in my area of NY. So yes I wanted a cellar, but the cost to bump mine up to 9 wasn't worth it, to me. YMMV. :)

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8 ft vs 9 ft basement ceiling height

Comments (6)

chispa

strategery

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3onthetree

rrah

David Cary

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